Harris plays a sadistic villain known as the Man In Black throughout the show’s opening series, and has been confirmed to appear in series two of the sci-fi thriller TV series.

But the 66-year-old has quaintly suggested it would have been ‘a tad’ more useful for him to have known his character’s big secret — that the Man In Black is an older version of a young, virtuous man called William — before shooting began.

Westworld caused controversy as well as delighting viewers (Picture: HBO)

He told The Telegraph about the moment he found out on set: ‘It wasn’t shocking. It was like, “Oh, thanks for telling me”.’

However, he did admit that he could understand why producers might have held back the information, suggesting it ‘would have altered something’ in his performance.